Dicing with Death Episode 020
Recap Day 26 At the end of the day Qualneer and Michelle arrive in Glenberg and rest in the inn there. Bates the coachman takes their luggage inside. Michelle takes a seat at the end of the bar, and after bribing a laborer, Qualneer manages to get the seat next to her at the bar. Afterwards they retire to their room and Qualneer goes over the items he has. First the leather strips, which are favors from the Goldsmith's Union, which usually come at a high cost. Next is the letter, and Michelle recognises the name "Stirge" as a member of the Union, and the "Red Duke" is someone important in the Union but no one knows who they are. Michelle then looked at the colored glass monocle and knows of a legend of Archmage Ampafee who made these for his men-at-arms to see magical auras. Qualneer tests the monocle on Bloodletter and sees it magical aura. Day 27 During the day as they continue north along the road in the carriage, a fast un-marked rider rushes past. Then a pair riders go past with the sigil of Ashenholt on them (grey open palm). Late in the day, the carriage hits a rut in the road. Qualneer steps out the carriage to help Bates. As they are getting the carriage out of the pothole in the road, some travellers pass them by, and Qualneer is suspicious of them until they are out of sight. After an hour of work on the carriage, Qualneer and Michelle go for a walk near the Loch as Bates continues to work. It is nearly dark when the repairs are done. Then a creature attacks them from the lake that looks like a hound that smells of seaweed, a Dobachu. Qualneer gets hit then he kills the beast as Michelle pulls out her crossbow. Bates is amazed that Qualneer defeated the Dobachu. As the carriage pulls away they hear the cries of another creature, and they head on into the dark to the next town. They arrive in Asheloch a few hours later. Qualneer instructs Bates to take them to an inn away from the docks. In the tavern Qualneer talks about the Dobachu, and Michelle puts her Bard abilities to work and makes the story sound a lot better. Day 28 Bates heads into town to get a new spare carriagewheel. Qualneer and Michelle go to the expensive shops to do some window shopping. They arrive at a shop named "Bartholomew's". Michelle wants a fur coat, so Qualneer steals it for her. Everyone meets up and they continue north in the carrage towards Seagate. As they travel north a horseman passes them, heading south. The horseman has the sigil of Seagate, a Teal Ship. The sunsets and Qualneer tells Bates to continue into the night to make it to a village. They get an inn room in the village. In the inn Michelle plays her harp. The accompanying song she sings in a haunting language that Qualneer doesn't recognise. She then sings some classics that the common folk can enjoy. Qualneer looks out for wealthy people in the crowd, but decides against stealing anything. After her performance Michelle hears rumors of the instability in Ashenholt. Baron Ashenholt's Bastard son is gathering mercenaries while the Duke of Seagate is calling his banners. Day 29 (Late Autumn) In late afternoon in their carriage arrives at Seagate. The walled city is reasonably large with thousands of buildings. THere is also an inner city wall closer to the coast. Qualneer tells Bates to take the carriage to one of the nicer inns in town. Bates takes the carriage to the "Sea Breeze" Inn in the Outer City. Qualneer tips Bates an extra gold, giving Bates some fake names. Qualneer books a room for the week. Qualneer and Michelle go to their room. The room has a view of the inner city wall and the nicer buildings within in. Qualneer asks the innkeeper about places he can get "his wife" a gift. He is directed to a jewellers within a couple of blocks. Qualneer arrives at one of the jewellers and it is run by a gnome. Qualneer asks to see goods around 1500 gold in value. After some browsing, Qualneer says he might he'll be back, as he'll be browsing other shops before making a final purchase. During the night Qualneer breaks into the jewllers's shop and robs it. He leaves behind a note saying "The Lord of Ashenholt Thanks You". Qualneer then safely returns to the "Sea Breeze" with 4300 gold of valuables. Day 30 Qualneer sleeps in. By the time he wakes up Michelle is gone. Qualneer goes off looking for a "Guilded" Tavern run by the "The Goldsmiths Union". He finds out about the tavern called "The Guilded Rat" by the docks in the Outer City. Qualneer arrives at the "The Guilded Rat" and talks with Marcus the Bartender. He doesn't have the mark of the guild on his arm, so isn't considered a member. Qualneer shows the Leather Favor to prove his credentials, then asks if the Duchess of Seagate's jewellery is off limits to steal. Marcus says she isn't off limits, but the guild expects a 10% cut if Qualneer makes it out alive. Qualneers then overpays the guild a cut on the jewellery shop he robbed last night. Qualneer heads into the inner city to scout around. The Seagate Castle is on an island over a bridge from the mainland. He finds a church and bribes a priest to go up the bell tower to get a better view of Seagate. Qualneer returns to the Sea Breeze and waits for Michelle to come back. While waiting the innkeeper tells Qualneer some city guards came by looking for an elf with his description, and he doesn't want any trouble. Qualneer waits the rest of the day and into the night, and Michelle doesn't show up. Qualneer heads back to the "Guilded Rat". Qualneer is told by Marcus the Bartender that someone wants to speak with him. He heads to where he is directed and meets the man named Stirge, who Qualneer knows about from the letter he found in the metal chest he woke with at the start of his adventure. Qualneer asks about Captain Harrison Wurthan from the letter. Stirge says he is just a captain from the North who owes the Guild a debt, and was last headed to Sinteron on a lead. Qualneer tells Stirge that he suspects that Captain Harrison Wurthan is dead and his ship sunk. Stirge tells Qualneer of a sally-port on the north side of the castle. Experience Experience: 4585 (+458.5 exp 10% prime requisite bonus) = 10248.2 exp total *Qualneer levels to level 5 **+6 HP (HP 20 Total) Category:Dicing with Death Episodes Category:Qualneer Episodes